Published: September 2012

Changes to S. 3468 give lobbyists more power

Coalition: Coalition for Sensible Safeguards and Americans for Financial Reform

Consumer Action and other advocates oppose the Independent Agency Regulatory Analysis Act, which would give the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) jurisdiction over all independent agencies in the federal government, including all of the financial regulatory agencies. The measure would impose an unnecessary, costly, and time-consuming layer of new requirements for cost benefit analysis on financial watchdog agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Existing cost-benefit analysis requirements, and related legal challenges, are already a major source of delay in financial rulemaking. S. 3468 would add at least thirteen new resource-intensive analyses of regulatory costs before a rule can be finalized. In addition, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) would get to review any significant new rule, guidance, or policy – a process could add far more time and possibly lead to new rules being abandoned altogether, giving Wall Street lobbyists another powerful set of tools to delay and derail the implementation of financial safeguards that are needed to protect our economy.

Lead Organization

American's for Financial Reform (AFR)

Other Organizations

AFL-CIO | AFSCME | Air Line Pilots Association, International | Alliance for a Just Society | American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO | Americans for Financial Reform | Blue Green Alliance | California Reinvestment Coalition | Center for Responsible Lending | Center for Science in the Public Interest | Clean Water Network | Communications Workers of America | Consumer Action | Consumer Federation of America | Consumers Union | Demos | Earthjustice | Food and Water Watch | Friends of the Earth | Government Accountability Project | Greenpeace | International Brotherhood of Teamsters | International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America, UAW | The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights | League of Conservation Voters | Main Street Alliance | National Association of Consumer Advocates | National Community Reinvestment Coalition | National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low income clients) | National Consumers League | National Education Association | National Employment Law Project | 
National Fair Housing Alliance | National People's Action | National Women's Health Network | Natural Resources Defense Council | New Jersey Work Environment Council | OMB Watch | Public Citizen | SAFER Financial Reform | Service Employees International Union | Southern Poverty Law Project | STOP foodborne Illness | The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy | U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) | Union of Concerned Scientists | United Steel Workers | Worksafe

More Information

Coalition for Sensible Safeguards

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Changes to S. 3468 give lobbyists more power   (AFR_Oppose_S.3486_9-6-12.pdf)